Coat

Coats, like everything else in fashion, have been caught up in the craze for changing fabrics, categories and uses.BTC Once satin, velvet, lace and lame were strictly for evening, but now clothes made of or trimmed in any of these voluptuous fabrics are considered appropriate for day as well as night. Some of these fragile materials have also been treated to wear well in all weather.At the Paris fashion showings last month, several editors were spotted wearing a boxy topper of black velvet with quilted satin sleeves that reversed to a quilted satin lining.

Debora Coates-Consugar has a penchant for making math simple and enjoyable for students at Summit School, an Edgewater-based, not-for-profit education center for children with dyslexia and other learning problems. But sometimes the math department chair will encounter a struggling student who tells the teacher she can't possibly understand how frustrating certain subjects can be. Truth is, Coates-Consugar knows it all too well. "I'm dyslexic, too," says Coates-Consugar, fighting back emotions as she reflected upon once having endured the same struggles she now helps her students overcome.

Q: I have just started a glamorous new job and have decided to invest in some new clothes for fall. I want to begin with a coat in a pretty color, and then collect dresses and separates to go under it.I'm a petite and can't wear anything too dramatic. What should I look for? I want something trendy.A: You have made a good choice to start your new wardrobe plan with a coat, for this is a good coat season. At the Italian house of Byblos, Keith Varty and Alan Cleaver picked a rose pink for one of their coat messages.

No new leases have been announced for Town Centre Laurel — the development that is planned for the site where Laurel Mall once stood — but agreements with tenants already announced have been officially finalized, and the project is said to be on track. The developers of the $130 million project gave City Council members an update at the meeting on Monday night, May 13. Officials with Greenberg Gibbons Commercial, the project's lead developer, said asbestos removal and the demolition work of the existing structure went as planned.

A coat mistake is serious business.A bad choice of blouse can be ignored or covered up with a jacket or sweater, but there's no hiding a wrong coat.So think it over, over lunch or dinner, before you make the final decision and investment. Here, a checklist of reminders:* No coat is an island. Before you're swept away by romantic new designs, think about the rest of your wardrobe. The fashion-followers who can afford to change silhouettes with each season don't have to worry; they've already ditched their boxy blazers and shoulder pads in favor of a leaner line.

Editor's note: Special buttons taken off an unusual jacket make life a lot more interesting for those who are lucky enough to receive them. The coat that I wear from the fall to the spring Is my chunkiest, funkiest, favorite thing. But the six reasons why it's a magical coat Are the buttons that go from the heel to the throat. The first one says "cold" And the second says "warm," The third plays a tune that would calm any storm. The fourth is a star And the fifth is a stone And the sixth is a doll with a coat like my own. I went out on Monday to see what I'd see, And I saw a young giant who was hot as could be. "The trouble," he said, "With being long in the leg Is the sun fries my head as though it were an egg."

OF ALL of the purchases a man might make for fall, a coat is the one most likely to halt him in his tracks. The coat-buying experience makes a man stop, ponder, check his wallet, shake his head in disbelief and hope this winter will be the mildest one yet.So, in the great quest for a new winter coat, there is no room for mistakes. Bad overcoats don't go away quickly. It takes weeks before the checkbook recovers, months before the new trench gets comfortable with the old wardrobe and years before outerwear mistakes land on the clothing give-away pile.

Q: I am only 5 feet 4 inches tall, but I love strictly tailored clothes. Apart from being short, my problem is my hips. They are certainly a lot wider than they should be.Can you suggest a fall outfit that will show off my slim legs but help to disguise my hips?A: I turned to New York designer Michael Kors for an answer. He does sportswear -- separates that you can buy in different sizes to help solve figure problems and still get a coordinated, tailored look.He suggested buying a narrow coat with a matching skirt.

Q. I have quite a bit of English ivy under some trees in my yard that seems to be diseased. There are small round spots on many of the leaves. Others look like they are thinly coated with black tar. I never noticed this before. Is there anything I can do? A. You have two separate problems, neither of which is life-threatening to a healthy stand of English ivy. The spots are caused by bacterial leaf-spot disease. The disease causes more noticeable injury during wet, humid summers. Prune out and discard the badly infected leaves and stems.

I have had some unfortunate home haircuts in my day, captured in school photos for the amusement of future generations. There's one in particular that stands out. I am about 8 years old, in a maroon polyester dress with a drooping collar that manages to create a "beagle-ears" effect. But it is my hair that commands attention; I am sporting startlingly asymmetrical bangs that slope sharply down my forehead. I remember sitting for home haircuts on a stool in my basement; hair dripping wet, a towel pinned around my shoulders.

W. R. Grace & Co. of Columbia announced Wednesday that it acquired an Australian manufacturer of waterproofing and coatings systems for an undisclosed sum. Chemind Construction Products, a private research and manufacturing company based in Brisbane, Australia, brings waterproofing technology to Grace Construction Products division, which had $1 billion in sales last year. Chemind's waterproof coatings are used to protect commercial, residential and civil structures, the company said.

Each week The Sun's John McIntyre presents a relatively obscure but evocative word with which you may not be familiar, another brick to add to the wall of your working vocabulary. This week's word: QIVIUT An excellent Inuit word for a game of fictionary, qiviut (pronounced KEE-vee-oot) is, the American Heritage Dictionary informs us,  "the soft wool lying beneath the long coat of the muskox, valued for its use as a fiber. "* Stump them with that. Example: I first came across the word in a lovely poem by Marianne Moore, whose fondness for exotic words was matched by her fondness for exotic animals.

What is it about guys named Morgan turning into serial killers? First there was Dexter Morgan and now Johnny Morgan, the modern-day Bloody Face, played by Dylan McDermott. At least Dexter saves his dark passenger for deserving victims. As Johnny tells a psychiatrist about his experience skinning cats and his compulsions to hurt woman, we learn that Johnny Morgan isn't who he said he was.  "You see, my name isn't Morgan," he tells the psychiatrist. "My name is Thredson. I'm the son of Bloody Face.

Colleges Ex-Terp Merriman to hold annual coat drive Saturday Shawne Merriman , a former Maryland standout who now plays linebacker for the Buffalo Bills, will hold his annual coat drive Saturday before the Maryland-Florida State game at noon at Byrd Stadium. Over the past 10 years, Merriman and his Lights On Foundation have collected more than 20,000 coats to benefit numerous communities in the region. This year, Merriman's efforts will be focused on those affected by the storm Sandy in New York and New Jersey.

Thanks to Raven Jameel McClain, about 300 children around Baltimore will have a new, warm winter coat. The inside linebacker made a deal with Wal-Mart where in exchange for a couple off-season appearances at the store, they'd provide the gear for needy kids. This afternoon, kids from area Boys and Girls clubs will head to the Port Covington Wal-Mart to shop for their coats. They'll also be getting hats, gloves and scarves, provided by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. McClain will be at Wal-Mart from 4 to 7 p.m., meeting the kids and helping them choose jackets.

The Westminster-based outreach center, Shepherd's Staff is sponsoring its annual Call for Coats program continuing through Nov. 16. More than 2,000 coats are expected to be donated, and will be donated to keep families and individuals warm during the cold weather. Coats will be distributed free to county residents by he Shepherd's Staff, 30 Carroll Street, Westminster. the office is open Monday, Tuesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Thursdays, 3 to 7 p.m. (closed Wednesday)

Q: Is there a certain topcoat favored by CEOs and Wall Street executives? If so, what is it and what color do these men choose?A: If you are including the go-over-everything Burberrys-type trench coat, this classic khaki cotton or cotton/polyester coat is preferred by more men (CEOs and others) and worn in more situations than any other coat. But beyond the belted raincoat category, unquestionably, the favorite topcoat is the single-breasted wool Chesterfield, with or without a black velvet collar.

Any minute now, you'll reach for your trusty winter coat. And horrors! That same warm wrap that saw you through several years of weather both fair and foul may look a little wilted, a little tired around the edges.The very idea of buying a new coat is daunting. Unlike purchasing a new dress or sweater, buying a winter coat is a real commitment. It will have to see you through snow and slush, and it will have to cover you (and most of the clothes you own) from dawn through dusk for at least a couple of years.

The two Baptist pastors didn't know a soul at Gov. Martin O'Malley's big breakfast for supporters of his same-sex marriage bill back in January. Neither had ever been in a room with so many openly gay people. "It was a different moment," said the Rev. Donte Hickman Sr., pastor of Southern Baptist Church in East Baltimore. He had attended the breakfast in Annapolis with a colleague, the Rev. Delman Coates, who leads a megachurch in Prince George's County. They listened. Observed.